Their mission \u2014 safely deliver a VIP to the hospital\u2019s rooftop helipad, with his cargo in tow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was good flying in the chilly skies above Edmonton, as the Royal Canadian Airforce\u2019s 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron raced toward the Stollery Children\u2019s Hospital in a CH-146 Griffon helicopter Monday morning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A group of children watched a live broadcast of the squadron, and saw the operation unfold from inside a hospital playroom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The VIP, a jolly man in a red suit with a white beard, faced the camera and waved a white-gloved hand at his audience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Santa Claus was on his way to the Stollery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe\u2019s pretty used to flying operations,\u201d said Lt.-Col. Taylor Hall, who is the commanding officer for the squad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hall is also used to flying with Mr. Claus \u2014 having flown on similar missions \u2014 but he says this was his first time doing it in Edmonton. As someone who grew up in Alberta and as a former University of Alberta student, he knows the territory well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI used to walk by the Stollery Hospital every day going to the U of A, watching the helicopters in and out,\u201d Hall said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Jill Painter, with the Stollery\u2019s Child Life team, was on the rooftop helipad when the squadron touched down. She\u2019s been with the hospital for 17 years, and says her team works to help manage stress and bring some fun for the children at the hospital. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Santa\u2019s visit was part of that same work. For around eight years now, the holiday icon has been paying a visit to the Stollery, via helicopter, to spend time with some of the children and bring gifts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe hospital can be a really hard place to be at Christmas,\u201d Painter said. \u201cAs child life specialists, we try to make it as fun as it can possibly be.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Painter says it\u2019s special when people from the community help. When she saw Santa Claus come out of the helicopter, she said she almost started tearing up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Back inside, the kids were still watching the broadcast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Six-year-old Asr Khan was especially excited and sat eagerly watching the screen. When the group was asked where Santa was heading, he cheered, \u201cthe Stollery!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His mother, Margie Khan, said her son has been at the hospital for a few weeks now getting treatment related to his leukemia. The Stollery has been very helpful, she added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEverything we need, we get it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The room was filled with smiles and wide eyes when Santa and his escort walked in. Asr waved both hands at Mr. Kringle and smiled. He was the first to get a gift, a plushie toy shaped like a piece of toast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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After gifts were doled out, Brendan Ritchie, another patient, said it was great to see Santa, and that spirits were lifted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ritchie is hoping to get back to school soon and graduate this year. Right now, he\u2019s waiting for a lung transplant for a rare condition he\u2019s been battling now for 13 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He says he enjoys seeing the kids get excited about Santa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor someone who\u2019s older, like me, it\u2019s cool seeing them get excited. It makes me really, really happy.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Painter agrees. She says the event is one of her favorites, and she loves watching the children\u2019s faces light up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Santa\u2019s yearly visit to the Stollery also comes as the hospital is set to get it\u2019s biggest gift in years \u2014 a new standalone facility, albeit not in time for Christmas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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A site on the University of Alberta\u2019s south campus was selected in November and the hospital has launched a campaign to help raise $1 billion for the new facility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Planning work for the new facility is expected to be completed by 2026, although it could be more than eight years until construction is finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Stollery opened in 2001 and is currently the second-largest children\u2019s hospital in the country. It has an annual patient volume of more than 300,000 children from across Western Canada, including 55,000 emergency visits and 12,000 surgeries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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lnewbiggin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Edmonton Journal Liam Newbigging Mon, December 8, 2025 at 3:28 p.m. MST 4 min read Their mission \u2014 safely deliver a VIP to the hospital\u2019s rooftop helipad, with his cargo in tow. It was good flying in the chilly skies above Edmonton, as the Royal Canadian Airforce\u2019s 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron raced toward the Stollery Children\u2019s Hospital in a CH-146 Griffon helicopter Monday morning. A group of children watched a live broadcast of the squadron, and saw the operation unfold from inside a hospital playroom. The VIP, a jolly man…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-408-squadron-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forfreedom.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forfreedom.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forfreedom.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forfreedom.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forfreedom.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4805"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.forfreedom.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4806,"href":"https:\/\/www.forfreedom.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4805\/revisions\/4806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forfreedom.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forfreedom.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forfreedom.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}